(NW Pacific, south-west Bering Sea, about 650-660 m; photos ROV Comanche 18 NSCMB FEB RAS)
Tealidium is a very interesting genus. It was created by Hertwig (1882) for "all forms which agree with the Tealidae in the papillose nature of the wall,
but which differ from them in the mesodermal position of the sphincter". In 1921 Carlgren discovered the second species of this genus but nobody else saw
any member of Tealidium since that time (100 years passed since Carlgren’s work!). It was a big surprise for us to find rather numerous specimens of Tealidium
in the western part of the Bering Sea during two deep-water expeditions in 2016 and 2018. Many of them were found directly on the methane seeps discovered during these
expeditions. This species is easily recognized in underwater photographs by the presence of mesogloeal papillae arranged in vertical rows on column. It was described as a new species, Tealidium conoplinorum, in the paper listed below.
Previously Tealidium was assigned to the family Actinostolidae, but now we place it in Anthosactinidae, a new family established in our publication in 2021 (link below).
